Some dismiss the Club World Cup as an irrelevant marketing ploy by Fifa, but try telling that to Wayne Rooney. He may be a multimillionaire global star who has won Champions League and Premier League titles already this year but Rooney is still smarting after losing the European Super Cup to Zenit St Petersburg in August. With his family's proud boxing heritage, it ­matters to become a world champion at any level.

Rooney was genuinely enthusiastic about the tournament before he left Manchester and revelled in the occasion and the acclaim as he polished United's 5–3 victory over Gamba Osaka on Thursday. Unlike several team-mates — such as Patrice Evra, who had just three hours' sleep before the semi-final — the 23-year-old has not even suffered any jet-lag in Japan. "I'm always a good sleeper ­wherever I am in the world," he admitted. The prospect of tomorrow's final against Liga de Quito of Ecuador, however, may interrupt his tranquility a little.

"You don't get many chances to become world champions and we really want to take it," Rooney said. "It is an ambition of mine to have the complete set of winners' medals in my trophy cabinet. I've got a Champions League, two Premier Leagues, a Carling Cup and Community Shield already. And I want to add the Club World Cup to that. I was really disappointed to lose the European Super Cup earlier in the season and I have lost two FA Cup finals so it is a trophy I'm desperate to win. This is another great opportunity for us all."

His United team-mates concur. Edwin van der Sar won what was then the Toyota Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory over Gremio Porto Alegre in 1995, with the star-studded Ajax team of the De Boer twins, Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert. His memories suggest the disregard for the event may be more of an English problem than a European one.

"There was a big celebration in Amsterdam when we won it in 1995 and about 100,000 people welcomed us back," the United keeper recalled. "It was a big thing for Ajax to win it in 1995. We didn't lose a game for 18 months so we were really in the flow. It is not the same as winning the Champions League but I never became a world champion with the national team so it is important to me."

Sir Alex Ferguson and his players admit to knowing little of Liga de Quito but neither are United blind to the threat posed to their ambitions of becoming the first British club to win this tournament in its current guise. Having beaten Fluminense in Brazil to win the Copa Libertadores for the first time in Ecuadorean football history, the South Americans had proven their worth long before United's coaching team took in their semi-final defeat of the Mexican team Pachuca here on Wednesday.

"I played for France against Ecuador so I know they have good players. Quito are a good team," Evra said. "In the past a lot of big teams like Liverpool and Barcelona have won their first games out here but have lost the final. It is very important because we can do the treble this year. We need to play this game like the final of the Champions League."

Only time will reveal what impact this 12,000-mile round trip and a fixture backlog will have on United's attempts to win a third successive Premier League title. Rooney, however, believes victory tomorrow will ensure the Club World Cup serves as to help and not hinder that cause.

"If we can win this tournament it will give us a real spur for the second half of the season. It would send out a powerful message to the rest of the Premier League," Rooney said. "We are in a strong position in the league and if we can go back as world champions it would be a great boost and give us a great platform to kick on from.

"In the semi-final you could hear the fans singing 'Champions of England, Champions of Europe' so it will be great if they can add 'Champions of the World' to that. That would sound even better. We want to win it for them, for ourselves and the club."